Help Incorporating Your Company

Non-resident US LLC owners

So you have decided that a US LLC is the best incorporation for you & your business/structure. You ultimately have to choose what’s best for you giving as many factors as you can involve–but here are some factors that can help you decide.

See the chart below to get a more complete picture of what’s required (to date Oct 2023), but first!

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Up Front Cost

When filing for an LLC you’ll have the state cost to register your company. This ranges between 35-500 dollars. Most states are around $100. If you’re living in another country you’ll need a registered agent which will have their own annual fee

Recurring Costs

Annually (usually annually), you’ll be expected to file a company report often with a fee. There are some states that are without a fee, but with a report. Others have no fee nor report. Each state have their own rules but most states are around 30-60 dollars a year.

Asset Protection

This is an important one in my opinion. There are five states in the US that have amended their state laws to treat single-member LLCs as their own distinct entities for asset protection purposes. In other words, in the states of Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware your single-member LLC is completely separate from your own individual assets, whereas other single-member LLCs (in the remaining 45 states) can be viewed as being sole proprietorships for asset protection purposes. In the event that you don’t like any of these 5 states but wish to retain your assets separate from you as an individual you’ll need a multiple-member LLC (two or more).

Privacy

There are four states that allow for anonymous LLCs. This is very important as well in my opinion because of the increasing threat of cyber attacks that lurk. Anonymous LLCs are companies owners are not publicly identified by the state. The name and contact information of the “real” members and managers are private. An anonymous LLC isn’t a separate type of business legal entity, it’s still a normal limited liability company just according to state law it has a privacy component. Montana also has an element of privacy whereby the state filings do not require you to put your name or address.

Back Up

In the event that you actually move to the United States (I increasingly see this to be less and less of a promising move), you don’t want to have to wrap up your company–especially if you’re doing quite well with it. Without getting into how this would change for you, you’re going to want to ideally have your LLC in a state that you could see yourself living. South Dakota is very pro-business as of late but living there is fundamentally different than Orlando. Arkansas is absolutely not Oregon, etc. etc. This is just a precautionary factor to consider.

Tax Situation

When dealing with the IRS (or any Western government) it’s usually as complicated as the stars, but the super general matter to consider is not having a nexus or US-source of income to remain tax free. If you’re strictly an e-commerce company generally you’ll have no issues (so long as you don’t hire, invest, or locate yourself in the USA). LLCs are flow-through entities for tax so this provides a great emphasis on the need to lock onto a good tax residency yourself–again, Open Door can give advice on where is best for you.

Below is a breakdown of the state, the filing fee and the recurring annual fee. Contact us if you wish to learn more. For instance, there are nuances such as three states still require the new companies to advertise in a newspaper; Arizona, Nebraska and New York. Also, feel free to contact to inquire about various offshore jurisdictions such as Gibraltar, Andorra, Cayman Islands or Cook Islands that may be a better solution than the high fees of Massachusetts or California.

Thank you for taking the time to read & I look forward to helping you in the future! Don’t hesitate to contact with any questions.

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